


this is a secret (but you’re objectively pretty)

by hyungsobbing



Category: NU'EST, Produce 101 (TV), Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fate, M/M, mentioned dongpaca, mentioned jren
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-13
Updated: 2018-01-13
Packaged: 2019-03-04 08:27:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,100
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13360512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hyungsobbing/pseuds/hyungsobbing
Summary: Seongwoo has 7 hours before his currently unprinted thesis is due, and train service is delayed for another 5 hours. Then he meets an attractive stranger and there's hope for not only his thesis, but also his love life.(As Jaehwan puts it, his single, lonely and gay love life.)





	this is a secret (but you’re objectively pretty)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [shinhwi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shinhwi/gifts).



> im gifting this to ao3 user @shinhwi out of pure spite and pettiness because of her hate/dislike/disbelieving of onghwang pls read this and don't talk abt the lack of angst in it cos im not sadistic like u (and also i cant write it)
> 
> (and also bc u didn't let me make the sheep sounds on ur sheep toy)

Everyone has had their own moments where they think, ‘ _why is life so unfair to me?’_ Which is why, Seongwoo wonders, as he stares despondently at the tiny white words on the board, why the heavenly beings above have decided to pick on him on this particular day.

 

 _DELAYED_ , the Hangul words spell out on the board. He looks at the laptop case clutched in his hand back to the board, and back to his case again. _Please,_ he prays, _if there’s a god above, now would be about the right time to grant me a miracle. I promise I’ll start going to church._ He waits a few moments, but the words stay exactly the same as they were a minute ago. _I guess I’ll have to take this into my own hands, then._

 

“Excuse me, do you know when the train services to Seoul will start operation?” He asks in his most polite tone (despite the fact that he feels like combusting internally to save himself this trouble). The customer service officer smiles at him sympathetically. “We’re not sure, but the estimated time is around 4 in the morning.”

 

He slides the sleeve of his coat back. The watch displays unforgiving black digits back at him. Six more hours? He wasn’t going to make it. For sure. And this wasn’t freshman year with that pretty teaching assistant anymore—he’d rather fail his thesis before trying to charm this year’s scary TA.

 

“Missing an urgent deadline?” The customer service officer offers kindly. And he appreciates it—he really does, but there were more pressing issues than striking a conversation, however nice this officer was.

 

“Kind of, yeah.” He mutters, turning to leave. He would’ve started crying in the middle of the deserted train station, but he had at least a shred of dignity left. Should he start planning what fast food company outlet to work at once he got kicked out of his university or should he just give up? His parents wouldn’t want to claim a university dropout like him—maybe he should just worry about finding a new accommodation once his roommate kicked him out for not paying the rent.

 

Just as he was about to send himself into a downward spiral of self-deprecating thoughts, someone bumps roughly into him and he nearly loses his grip on his laptop case. What he does lose, though, is his train ticket (and his sanity). It flutters away and he quickly loses sight of it.

 

“I’m sorry!” The person calls over his shoulder. “Sounds fake, but okay,” Seongwoo mumbles to the air beside him. He sits down on the bench, all the energy drained out of him. He can’t really find it in himself to bother getting up and retrieving the lost item.

 

He spends what must be at least half an hour hunched against the bench, staring blankly at his lap. It would take at least 2 hours to get back via train (that is, if the train even came at all) and then about an hour to get to the closest printing shop to his apartment. The paper was due at 7 in the morning.

 

He might as well start planning his apology letter to be sent back to his parents explaining why their only son was a university dropout.

 

“Hey, your train ticket,” Someone taps his shoulder and he doesn’t bother lifting his head to acknowledge the person. The person shakes his shoulder with more vigor, but Seongwoo refuses to be disturbed. What was the point of a train ticket if the train was never going to arrive?

 

“Listen, I’m really sorry for bumping into you earlier on if that’s why you’re brooding now—” Seongwoo snaps his head up, narrowing his eyes at the—woah. This guy was attractive as hell.

 

“I am not _brooding_ ,” He returns, only slightly weaker than intended. “Sure,” the attractive man laughs. “Mind if I sit?”

 

“Whatever.” He snatches the train ticket from his hands and shifts to his left.

        

Seongwoo returns to staring at his lap, this time hyperaware of the extremely beautiful being sitting right next to him. If he moved any closer their legs would be touching and the attractive man might be able to see the traces of last night’s unshaved stubble on his jaw.

 

“What a bother, right?” The attractive man (Seongwoo should really find out his name. Either that, or give him a less objectifying nickname.) remarks.

 

“Yes,” was what Seongwoo should have said. He didn’t say that. In the face of an extremely handsome man, he lost all functions of speech and instead grunted.

 

Grunted? _Are you kidding me, Ong Seongwoo?_ He screams inside his mind. What a way to impress a stranger. You’re not like this. You’re confident, suave and handsome. Get a grip. He opens his mouth to correct himself, but the attractive man beats him to it.

 

“Are you okay? You seem quite out of it. It’s because of the train delay, isn’t it?” Attractive man says. “Yeah. I’m just tired.” He replies. “I’m Seongwoo,” He offers (without the other asking).

 

“I’m Minhyun.” Somehow, the name fits him quite well. There’s a silence that can’t really be called awkward (since they are strangers, after all), but Seongwoo struggles to come up with a conversation topic. When else would he get to talk to someone as beautiful as himself?

 

Minhyun beats him to it. “Sorry if this is offensive or anything, but have I seen you anywhere before? You seem a bit familiar.”

 

“Yeah, many people tell me I look like a celebrity. It’s the face.” Seongwoo pats himself on the back for coming up with a smart remark in such a short time, but Minhyun’s next words make him lose all train of thought.

 

“Must be tough walking around and attracting so many stares. I can relate.” Minhyun says offhandedly.

 

Wow. A great face and a confident personality to match. Could a person possibly be any more attractive? Seongwoo wonders. This must be it. He’s met his match in terms of attractiveness.

 

“No, but in all seriousness. Have we met before?” Minhyun continues. “Like—are you a university student?”

 

“Yeah, but there are at least thirty colleges in Seoul alone? And I don’t think I’ve seen you around campus before.” Seongwoo dismisses the thought. _I would’ve remembered this kind of face_ , he adds as an afterthought in his head.

 

“By any chance—do you go to Yonsei University?” Minhyun guesses. “What the heck man? I know I’m not bad-looking, but—are you stalking me?” Seongwoo says, then realizes a second too late that the other would probably find offense in that.

 

Apparently, Minhyun must be an angel, because he laughs it off. “No, I just figured that we might go to the same university seeing as you look quite desperate to get back to Seoul, and so am I—by any chance, is it because of a paper due tomorrow?”

 

Minhyun must be an undercover detective or something in his free time, because he is absolutely right. Seongwoo blinks in surprise, and Minhyun laughs at the puzzled expression on his face. “Maybe you’ve heard of me? I’m majoring in Architecture, and taking Professor Shin’s Music Composition class.”

 

“I haven’t seen you around before, though? I’m also majoring in Architecture with a minor in Dance—” Seongwoo’s parents always told him to think before he did anything rash, and this would probably qualify as an act of rashness. “Are you _the_ Hwang Minhyun?”

 

Minhyun looks nothing short of amused. “I wouldn’t go so far as to label myself as the Hwang Minhyun, but yes, I am.”

 

Seongwoo splutters. “You—you’re like a university celebrity!” He probably hadn’t recognized Minhyun on first glance due to his internal panicking, but when he takes a closer look at him—yes, this is the same guy that his very own best friend Kim Jaehwan spent his entire freshman and sophomore year pining over. This was the same man whose fanclub caused many university students to cry because they were too attached to Minhyun.

 

Unconsciously, he shifts away from Minhyun. He wasn’t about to risk his life getting close to a campus celebrity. “Nah, I just have some people who like me for my looks. Anyway, that’s beside the point. You’re quite popular yourself, aren’t you?”

 

“I mean, I won’t deny the fact that a number of people find my good looks dazzling. The chocolates and roses are nice at first, but I can’t keep eating them and most of them turn bad after a while.” Seongwoo remarks. _You should really stop talking, he says to himself. You probably sound dumb in front of Minhyun—god knows how many secret admirer gifts the guy gets daily._

 

“I wish people would give me chocolates. They somehow get the impression that I don’t like fatty foods and always give me the weirdest things—like stuffed bears and perfume, and I really don’t have the heart to throw any of them away. They look expensive.” Minhyun says wistfully, and Seongwoo wonders if he’s actually for real.

 

“Are you serious? Do you wanna swap gifts?” He says, only half-jokingly.

 

“Yeah, sure. But first—I need to ask you—have you finished your thesis?” Minhyun asks.

 

Seongwoo groans. He’d temporarily forgotten about the unprinted thesis paper in his laptop, and now this guy brings it up. “Yeah, but—I haven’t printed it out yet. Have you?”

 

“No, but I have a printer at home.” Seongwoo scowls. Attractive people and their loaded bank accounts; of course, Minhyun would own a printer. “You know a printing shop that opens at the crack of dawn?” Minhyun asks.

 

“Come to think of it, no. But I can ask my friend if he would be able to print for me.” Seongwoo rummages through his bag and comes out with his phone, quickly opening the messenger app and clicking on Jaehwan’s chat.

 

 _Dude,_ he types, _you got a printer at home, right?_ And sends it without much hope—Jaehwan did have a printer, but it was highly unlikely he’d let Seongwoo leech off him. It was kind of understandable, because thesis papers could reach up to 50 full pages.

        

The reply comes too quickly for a midnight text. _If you’re asking, then no._ Seongwoo scoffs and he can feel Minhyun’s amused stare on him.

 

_Yeah, I didn’t expect much. You staying up so late just to text him again?_

 

 _Who’s him?_ “Who’s him?” Minhyun asks, reading his texts over his shoulder. “You scared me! For a university heartthrob, you sure are nosy.” Seongwoo snaps, surprised.

 

“Who’s him?” He repeats, undeterred. Seongwoo shushes him and goes on to reply to Jaehwan’s (obviously fake) message. _I don’t know, maybe the boy you’ve been telling your entire social circle about every time we meet up? Guitar boy ring a bell?_

_Shut up. At least I can text my significant other. Who does your single lonely gay ass have?_ Seongwoo reads the words, then covers his phone screen to check if Minhyun had seen.

 

He had. “You’re not surprised?” Seongwoo asks, the light from his phone radiating off Minhyun’s eyes. “Seongwoo, more than half the students on campus aren’t straight, even the freshmen. You ever seen Kim Donghyun and Im Youngmin walking around hand-in-hand? Or Woojin helping Hyungseob with his physics work and Hyungseob just stares at him instead of writing?”

 

“Oh.” Seongwoo realizes the validity of his statement, and come to think about it; were there any of his friends who liked someone of the opposite gender? “Or, maybe, it’s just our social circles that are too small. You know, like attracts like?” Seongwoo jokes, and Minhyun laughs. “Sure.”

 

His phone rings with another message. _Why? You procrastinated to last minute to print it out, didn’t you?_ He frowns. He should invest in new friends; his current ones know him too well already. _Maybe. You gonna help me or not?_

 

_Nah, you’re by yourself there. Even if I wanted to, I don’t think I have enough ink and paper for an entire thesis without prior warning. I already used up all my ink cartridges printing my own a few days ago._

 

“I have a printer.” Minhyun says casually, and Seongwoo narrows his eyes at him. “And you mention it only now?”

 

“Well, what your friend says is true. Printing isn’t cheap.” Minhyun says. “I don’t usually beg strangers, but I’m really desperate. Please? You can consider this as an apology for bumping into me and making me lose my train ticket. That really hurt, you know?” Seongwoo usually isn’t this petty either, but desperate situation calls for desperate measures. He didn’t really want his mother to stop paying for his tuition when she found out she failed his course.

 

“I did pick up your train ticket for you and apologized for bumping into you—but I mean, sure. Only if you’d do me a favour.” Minhyun suggests.

 

“Anything, man.”

 

Minhyun pulls out his phone from his bag, and hands it to Seongwoo. “It’s not often you get to meet a stranger coincidentally from your university and sit with him for hours at a train station. I’ll drop you a text when your paper is printed and we can head to the university to submit it together. You live on campus, right?”

 

“I mean, if you wanted my number, all you had to do was ask. No problem, man. It’d be my honor to have my contact saved in your phone—I heard you limit your contacts to thirty people?” Seongwoo types in his number and passes Minhyun’s phone back to him.

 

“That’s a rumor.” Minhyun says, and puts his phone back.

 

“Dear customers, we are sorry for the delay. We are pleased to announce that train services are back in operation. The train to Seoul will arrive in an estimated time of an hour. Thank you.” The announcement over the system causes Seongwoo to jump slightly, and Minhyun laughs at him.

 

“Finally, eh?” Minhyun remarks. “Finally.” Seongwoo echoes.

 

-

 

If anyone asked, Seongwoo wouldn’t admit to falling asleep. He would definitely deny falling asleep on Minhyun’s shoulder on the ride. Minhyun would vehemently deny shifting his shoulder to allow Seongwoo to sleep comfortably, and then falling asleep on top of his head.

 

Seongwoo is woken in the middle of the train ride by a particularly hard bump and feels a weight on top of his head. He’s about to jump up and accuse the person of harassment when he realizes it’s Hwang Minhyun in the seat next to him. The corner of his mouth twitches, and he closes his eyes and goes back to sleep.

 

-

 

“You live in what?” Seongwoo says incredulously. “Block E.” Minhyun repeats. “That’s good for me then, because I live in Block D. Dude, we live just across the quad from each other? How have I not seen you before? Our university isn’t even that big.” Seongwoo says as they walk back on an empty pavement.

 

Minhyun shrugs. “I don’t really go out of my apartment in the day. I leave the block in the morning and study in the library until night, then I come back. You may have seen my roommate, though. Do you know Kim Jonghyun?”

 

“The question is, who doesn’t know Kim Jonghyun? Yeah, not as if it’s the Dean’s favourite student and president of the student council. Wait—are you two dating?” Seongwoo realizes that both of them actually would fit really well together; popular, well-known and well-liked.

 

“No. He’s a pleasant dude, but I don’t really want to date with someone who obsessively collects Pokémon figurines and does his laundry once a month.” Minhyun says. “Him? Collecting toys and doing laundry once a month? I never would’ve imagined that.”

 

"Yeah, that’s what most people say. He’s not actually as perfect as everyone thinks and I probably shouldn’t be telling you this, but he has had a three-year crush on a sophomore—Choi Minki? The really loud and pink-haired dude in Liberal Arts. Minki just thinks he’s cute, and Jonghyun’s kind of devastated.” Minhyun wasn’t as quiet as he looked, Seongwoo thinks, as he laughs at his story. Minki did think Jonghyun was cute, but not in the way you’d think a child was cute.

 

“Minki’s my friend, yeah. He thinks Jonghyun is absolutely adorable and probably wouldn’t mind being more than friends with him.” Seongwoo says smugly. They would thank him for playing matchmaker a few years later.

 

“I’ll be sure to tell him that,” Minhyun says, amused. “Well, I guess we’ve reached campus? Just email me your paper and I’ll print it as soon as possible.”

 

“Thanks so much for this. I don’t know what I’d do if not for you.” Seongwoo says maybe a bit too dramatically. “Fail the course, probably. Less competition for us Architecture students.” Minhyun replies, and Seongwoo laughs and steps into the building.

 

“Then you wouldn’t get to see my face around campus anymore. Anyway, thanks again and I’ll see you later!” Seongwoo calls and closes the door behind him. Minhyun replies, but it’s too soft for him to hear.

        

The light flickers on and Seongwoo realizes he’d forgotten completely about his roommate.

 

“Do you have any idea what time it is, Ong Seongwoo? And you still dare to flirt around at the doorstep? Isn’t your thesis paper due in an hour? What do you have to say for yourself?” One very angry Yoon Jisung stands beside his bed, arms crossed.

 

 Seongwoo winces, and puts his bag down at the entrance slowly. “It isn’t my fault!” At Jisung’s disbelieving glare, he continues, “Really! I was at Busan visiting my grandmother and the train services just stopped running and I was stranded at the station for hours! Please don’t call my mother to tell on me—she’ll come all the way down to scold me for staying out so late.”

 

“I don’t have to call your mother to scold you, I can do it myself!” Jisung pushes Seongwoo to his side of the room and continues talking. “But first—isn’t your paper due very soon? And you haven’t printed it?”

 

“I made friends with Hwang Minhyun at the station and he said he’d print it out for me.” Seongwoo says as he pulls out his laptop and types in his password. Clicking the send button on the email, he exhales in relief.

        

“Hwang Minhyun? You sure you made friends with Hwang Minhyun?” Jisung asks skeptically. “I don’t think he’d be able to deal with your bullshit.”

 

“You hurt me, Jisung. I mean, I’m not sure if the friendship is two-sided or maybe he just likes me a lot.” Seongwoo jokes, closing his laptop. “Keep telling yourself that.” Jisung sighs.

 

His phone vibrates with a message and he picks it up. _I’m printing it now, you should probably come over soon. I need to submit my paper too._ He saves Minhyun’s number and shows it to Jisung proudly. “See? He even texted me!”

        

“Sure. Now please hurry up and go. Sometimes I wonder how you even survive in university; you act like such a child.” Jisung rolls his eyes but picks up Seongwoo’s bag for him and passes it to him. “Go now!”

 

“Yes, mom!” Seongwoo calls as he shuts the door behind him. The sun is starting to rise in the distance, and he hurries down the quad, breath coming out in frozen puffs of air.

 

He knocks on the first door of Block E, and there’s a scuffling sound before a black-haired boy answers the door. “Oh! Seongwoo hyung!” The boy pushes his hair back from his eyes and Seongwoo realizes he’s knocked on the wrong door. “What’s up?” Hyungseob says cheerfully.

 

“Sorry, Hyungseob, got the wrong door. You mind telling me where Hwang Minhyun’s apartment is?” Seongwoo cranes his neck to see if there’s anyone else in the room, because what was he if not nosy?

 

“Seob, who the hell is at the door at the crack of dawn?” Someone mutters from behind the door, and Seongwoo peeks around the door to see a head of red hair poking out from the blankets. “Ah,” Seongwoo smirks, wiggling his eyebrows at a very red Hyungseob.

 

“No, we’re not doing whatever you think we’re doing, my roommate Euiwoong went to stay in his boyfriend’s room for the night and Woojin came over to help me with Physics because I’m failing it and he has a perfect GPA and it just happened that we were both tired and he fell asleep here!” Hyungseob says it all in one sentence, and he didn’t even look not even out of breath.

 

“I didn’t say anything, but sure.” Seongwoo shrugs, and raises his eyebrows at his dance class junior. Woojin pokes his head out of the lump of blankets and scowls when he sees Seongwoo standing at the door. “Go away, hyung. Go find someone else to bother.”

 

“Now, is that really the way to treat your favourite hyung? Even when I spent hours helping you with your choreography back when you were still a freshman? Wow, kids nowadays really are ungrateful. You think you’re big already? Well, when I was your age, I—”

 

"Seongwoo, I printed out your paper and bound the pages together. Stop disturbing them.” Minhyun pokes his head out a few doors down, and it’s Hyungseob’s turn to raise his eyebrows at Seongwoo. “Shut up. Although, I must say, we’d make quite a good couple, wouldn’t we? Both dashingly handsome."

 

“He didn’t say anything, but sure thing, hyung.” Woojin replies from inside the room. “Seongwoo!” Minhyun calls again, waving the papers at him. “Coming!”

 

“What the hell, it’s not even seven yet, can you all shut up?” None other than Jaehwan himself bangs the door open and catches sight of Minhyun, and quickly retreats. “Kim Jaehwan!” Seongwoo yells at him, and Jaehwan probably gets whiplash from how fast he turns around to glare at him.

 

“Ong Seongwoo. Should’ve known you’d be the asshole who wakes everyone up. What are you doing here? Don’t you have a thesis to print?” Jaehwan laughs evilly.

 

Seongwoo walks over to Minhyun and takes the papers from his hand, purposely brushing his hand against Minhyun’s in front of Jaehwan. He relishes in the moment as Jaehwan’s jaw drops and for once, is speechless. “Not anymore, you good-for-nothing friend.” He thanks Minhyun, who looks nothing short of amused.

 

Jaehwan recovers quickly. “Well, I guess you’re not single, lonely and gay anymore—just the gay.” He slams the door before Seongwoo can lunge at him and claw his eyes out. He turns to Minhyun apologetically and shrugs. “I don’t claim him as a friend.” Minhyun laughs, and Seongwoo finds his laughter way nicer than Jaehwan’s. “He used to have a crush on me, didn’t he?” Minhyun asks, and Seongwoo’s not surprised he knows. Jaehwan isn’t exactly subtle with his affections.

 

“Yeah, but it’s too late to chase him now if you figure out you like him. He already has guitar boy.” Seongwoo teases, and he can hear Jaehwan’s eavesdropping ass yell at him for exposing his secret.

 

-

 

To both of their relief, the professor is still there when they turn up five minutes past the deadline. “Minhyun, Seongwoo! So glad you could make it,” Professor Seo remarks, putting their papers in the pile. “Thanks, Prof!” Seongwoo says brightly at the professor who ignores him in favour of sorting out the papers. “Thank you, Professor Seo,” Minhyun bows at him, and the professor shakes his head. “It’s no problem, Minhyun.” Professor Seo smiles at him, and Seongwoo gasps at the blatant favoritism.

 

"Bye!” Seongwoo calls as Minhyun pulls him out of the class. “Must you really be like this?” Minhyun’s subtle eye roll doesn’t go unnoticed. “Is this the way you treat your friend?” Seongwoo checks his watch and if he leaves now, he can make it back to his apartment in time to change and reach the dance studio in time for team practice.

 

“So, we’re friends now?” Minhyun raises an eyebrow. “I’d like to think so.” Seongwoo says as he breaks out in a run back to his apartment. “See you!” He shouts over his shoulder.

 

-

 

He doesn’t actually make it to the studio in time. He’s at least ten minutes late, and everyone has started warming up by the time he arrives. “What is up, my dudes!” He announces, flinging the door open and dumping his bag on the ground. “The ceiling,” Daniel replies, and starts laughing at himself. No one else laughs, and Jihoon coughs something that sounds like ‘lame’.

 

“You wouldn’t believe what happened this morning!” He says as he stretches his legs. “If your memory is failing you, hyung, Hyungseob and I were there to see it.” Woojin remarks. “No, before that. I ran into Hwang Minhyun at the Busan train station and we bonded and we’re now the best of friends!” He says with great enthusiasm.

 

Samuel snorts. “Sure.” “Actually,” Hyungseob, bless his soul, starts, “Woojin and I saw him and Minhyun together this morning. They seemed quite friendly.”

 

 _Ha, take that!_ Seongwoo thinks, looking at Daniel and Samuel’s dumbstruck expression. Jihoon only sighs and rolls his eyes. “Is he as cool as the gossip says?” Samuel asks excitedly. “No, I’m actually way cooler than him. He reminds me a bit of you—like gossipy aunties.” Samuel deflates slightly as his perfect image of Minhyun is shattered.

 

“I bet you like him,” Jihoon says. “Nearly everyone that sees him does.” “Well, I don’t deny that he certainly is attractive and I can imagine the both of us together—after all, we’re both extremely good-looking.” Seongwoo replies, and somehow, he can feel Jihoon’s eye-roll directed at him.

 

“Can we stop gossiping and actually start dancing now?” Woojin says snidely. “They all grow up so fast,” Seongwoo says. “I’m almost proud.”

 

“Shut up, you’re only a year older than me?” Woojin mutters as they get up. “Do you really like Minhyun hyung?” Hyungseob butts in, and Seongwoo shrugs. He can’t deny he hasn’t thought of that in the past few hours. “A bit too fast there, Seob.” Seongwoo replies.

 

But as the hours tick by and they repeat the dance choreography over and over again, thoughts of Hwang Minhyun slide into the back of his mind. _You wouldn’t actually mind dating him, though. He can probably deal with your bullshit._ Yeah, but Minhyun would probably mind dating him.

 

The music stops suddenly. “Seongwoo hyung, can you focus? You almost knocked over Hyungseob during the transition.” Woojin snaps. “Thinking about someone?” Samuel asks. “Does the name start with a M and end with a N?” Daniel adds. “I bet he is,” Jihoon mutters.

 

“No, but I bet that I’m going to kill all of you slowly if you don’t shut up.” Seongwoo scowls and goes to turn on the music again, nodding apologetically at Hyungseob. The boy doesn’t mind, winking at him. “Don’t worry, hyung. Maybe you can even invite him to the dance competition!”

 

Seongwoo doesn’t reply immediately, but when he does, it’s when the music switches off again and they gather their items and leave the dance studio. “Maybe,” he says to himself as he clicks off the lights.

 

-

 

“I forgot to ask you, but how the hell do you and Minhyun know each other?” Jaehwan demands, sitting down next to Seongwoo in the cafeteria. “Jealous?” Seongwoo grins smugly at him. “No.” Jaehwan scowls. “Besides,” he adds, “I already have Sewoon. It’s just kind of breaking the bro code to date your best friend’s ex-crush.”

 

“I’m pretty sure the bro code only applies if you actually dated him. One-sided crushes don’t count.” Seongwoo taunts. “Also, did you know—he knows you used to crush on him? How pathetic is that, right? You’re lucky he’s such a nice guy. If I were him, I’d go out with you only to dump you the next day just to play with your feelings.”

 

“I think that’s only things assholes like you do.” Jaehwan, left with nothing to retaliate, can only be petty enough to steal a piece of Seongwoo’s chicken from his tray. “Look up!” Seongwoo spots him coming before Jaehwan does, nudging him.

 

Minhyun sits down in front of Seongwoo and Jaehwan, with Jonghyun beside him. “I hope you don’t mind us sitting here?” Minhyun asks, and Seongwoo nods, containing his laughter at Jaehwan kicking him under the table. “No problem, my dude.” Jonghyun smiles at him. “I had no idea you and Minhyun were close.” 

 

“We’re not.” “We are!” Minhyun and Seongwoo say respectively at the same time. Jaehwan, who’d been way too quiet up to this point, starts laughing. Seongwoo frowns at Minhyun. “We went through an entire train service delay together!” Seongwoo says, a little bit hurt.

 

“Well, when you say it like that it does sound quite serious,” Jonghyun says, and Seongwoo honestly can’t tell if he’s being sarcastic. “Well, I guess we are.” Minhyun mumbles unwillingly. Seongwoo points accusingly at Minhyun. “You even asked for my phone number as a payment for printing out my thesis paper! Stop denying it, you do like me.”

 

Jaehwan chokes on his chicken, and Seongwoo, being the good friend he is, stops talking to whack him on the back until he forcefully coughs out the chicken breast.  “What?” He croaks. “Oh, I forgot to tell you, didn’t I? Minhyun here,” He glares at him, “Made the first move and asked for my phone number!”

 

“If you say it like that, people are going to get the wrong impression.” Minhyun says. Seongwoo shrugs. _I wouldn’t actually mind if people thought that_ , he thinks.

 

“Listen, I didn’t really get to thank you properly for printing out my entire thesis paper for me.” Seongwoo says. Minhyun shakes his head. “No, it’s alright. I told you your phone number would be payment enough, didn’t I?”

 

“As much as my number is a desirable item in the school campus, I can think of better payment. Such as–an invitation to watch my dance competition.” Seongwoo says, patting himself on the back for a smooth invitation well done.

 

At Jaehwan’s not-so-muffled laughter and Jonghyun smiling to himself, Seongwoo starts to doubt his words. Did he say anything weird? Minhyun doesn’t reply for a while, staring blankly at Seongwoo, and he starts to consider retracting his offer.

 

“I’ll be there.” Minhyun finally says. “Good,” Seongwoo replies. “It’d be rude to turn down an invitation.”

 

-

 

“Is he there?” Seongwoo hisses, hiding in backstage. “Who?” Hyungseob says, oblivious. “Hwang Minhyun!”

 

Hyungseob peers around the corner. “Do you want him to be?” Woojin asks from behind him. “Doesn’t matter if I want him to be or not! Is he there?” Seongwoo groans. “Yeah, he is. In front row, along with Jaehwan hyung.” Hyungseob replies. “Oh, Euiwoong is here as well!”

 

“Euiwoong?” Woojin mutters, and Seongwoo catches onto a weird tone in his voice.  He turns around, and whispers, “Park Woojin, are you by any chance _jealous_ of Euiwoong?” Woojin mutters to himself and looks down. Making sure Hyungseob is occupied trying to catch Euiwoong’s attention, he nudges Woojin. “Are you?”

 

“Maybe, a little bit, I guess?” He shrugs. Seongwoo really wants to laugh, but he decides he’s going to be a good senior. “Don’t be stupid, you dumb kid. What’s there to be jealous of? Aren’t you and him dating already?” Seongwoo says.

 

“We aren’t!” Woojin exclaims, then softens down. “I have honestly no idea. Is he completely blind? I keep sending him signals but he just brushes them off! Maybe it’s because he likes Euiwoong, but I thought that kid already had a boyfriend!”

 

“Oh my god, you two aren’t dating?” Seongwoo gasps. This entire time, while the whole campus thought they were in a relationship, they were unconfirmed? “Okay, I can tell you with a hundred percent certainty that he likes you. Please don’t live up to my expectations of you being stupid and just tell him to his face.”

 

 “Not as if you have a right to say that either, hyung. What’s up with you and Minhyun?” Woojin scoffs. “You—” Seongwoo, for once in his life, is at a loss of what to say.

        

“How about this? After the performance, when we get first place, you go to Minhyun and ask him out, and I’ll ask Hyungseob.” Woojin spits on his palm and holds it out. “I don’t even like Minhyun that way, though?” Seongwoo says weakly. “Don’t be such a chicken. Real men don’t deny their feelings.” Woojin retorts.

 

“Is that a challenge?” Seongwoo narrows his eyes, and spits on his own palm and reaches out to grab Woojin’s hand. “Challenge accepted.” He says, and shakes his hand, letting go only after squeezing his tightly.

 

“We have to go soon!” Daniel calls from the side, and Hyungseob turns around. Seongwoo nudges Woojin, who ignores him and shrugs on his jacket. “We have to go now!” Daniel shouts. They gather in a circle, and their team leader looks around at all of them, and shouts over the cheers of the crowd, “First place, alright?” They shout back, and Seongwoo finds Woojin’s eyes and winks at him. Woojin rolls his eyes back, but as they go on stage, he whispers, “Do your best, hyung, because Minhyun will be watching you.”

 

Then the music starts.

 

-

 

They do actually win first place, to nobody’s surprise. They’d done so well that they received chants for an encore, which the group gladly provided. Over the cheers and the gleaming golden trophy being passed around, Seongwoo glances at Woojin, only to see him and Hyungseob slip out of the room.

 

“Seongwoo!” Minhyun finds him in the crowd, grabbing his shoulder. “Well done,” He smiles, and Seongwoo finds that his heart was beating so fast he could barely smile. “Can we talk outside?” Seongwoo manages. “Sure!” Minhyun leads him out of the hall by their hands.

 

“Minhyun,” Seongwoo starts, but his voice fails him. “Hey, why’re you so nervous for? There’s no need to be nervous around me,” Minhyun says kindly, but this makes him even more anxious, and he’s about to chicken out of the deal when he hears Woojin’s voice.

 

“Hyungseob, do you want to go out?” He says simply, and Seongwoo wonders how his junior has more courage than him. There’s a pause, and he looks to the side to see Minhyun listening as well.

 

“Aren’t we already dating?” Hyungseob says, confused. Seongwoo wants to start laughing, and by the look on Minhyun’s face, he does as well. For the sake of being a good senior, he holds it in, and he almost loses it seeing the look of confusion on Hyungseob’s face through the crack in the door.

 

“We should give them a bit of private time.” Minhyun says, already pulling Seongwoo outside, the cold air hitting them hard. “You wanted to say something?” Minhyun encourages.

 

This is it, Ong Seongwoo, he thinks. You do it now or risk losing the chance forever. Don’t mess it up by being stupid.

 

“Go out?” He asks, then mentally slaps himself. “We’re already outside though?” Minhyun says, looking around.  “I mean, do you want to go out on a date with me? Or maybe even multiple dates?” _Please_ , he prays, _I know I’m really not a religious man but I don’t want to get rejected right now._

 

“Sure,” Minhyun shrugs. “I was wondering when you were going to actually ask, since I wasn’t sure if subtly flirting with people was your way of making friends.” “It usually isn’t,” Seongwoo says, relieved. “But for you, I’d make an exception.”

 

“You’d better, Ong Seongwoo.” Minhyun says, stepping closer to Seongwoo. “I’m glad the train got delayed.” One step, two step, and Seongwoo is right in front of Minhyun. “I am, too.” He mutters, and his lips meet Minhyun’s.

 

When they separate, he leans his forehead against Minhyun’s. “You know, there’s a bunch of our friends standing on the steps of the hall, taking photos?” Minhyun whispers.

 

“Let them. We can use them as our wedding photos.” Seongwoo says, shrugging. Minhyun laughs. “Sure, but let’s go on a date first?”

 

“Anything for you.” Seongwoo says, subtly sticking out a middle finger behind his back. The group of friends burst into loud, obnoxious cheering but he could care less. “Hey, do you want to go to Japan for our honeymoon? I heard their trains there are great and probably won’t get delayed in the middle of the night.” Minhyun’s the one who says it this time.

 

“Bring me on a date first, alright?” Seongwoo laughs.

 

“Anything for you,” Minhyun smiles.

 

 

 

        

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> hello hello! as i was writing this, i was thinking "what the hell am i, a Jinseob Supremacist, doing writing an Onghwang fic? tbh i have no idea either...OOPS but of course i had to include jinseob (my excuse was for plot development but honestly...my babies...i miss them so much...when will yuehua debut as ot5...)
> 
> i hope u liked dis mishmash of ideas ok i admit i took the idea of a delay from tumblr (plane delay) but i was like hEYYYY why not make it a train in busan (not bc of the movie ok maybe a bit because of the movie) since minhyun lives there but honestly i have no idea what seongwoo is doing there either (does his grandma actly live there irl? i don't know man isnt he from incheon or sth) and I’ve had so much trouble printing my shit out ok I keep having to use the school printer =.= AND i bet u thought the customer service officer was going to be minhyun? HA NO
> 
> also if ur wondering where the professor seo person came from i was thinking of BTOB then i was like hey seo eunkwang and --
> 
> also! title is from pentagon's pretty pretty (◕ ω ◕✿) 
> 
> also!! get ugly team as seongwoo's dance team because i LOVE JINSEOB!! 
> 
> <3<3<3<3


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